Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-12-15

Some Remarkable Appearances Which
He Noted-Is Mars Inhabitede-Facts
Which Seem to Call for an Affirma-
tive Answer.
1t was in 1877 during favorable conjunc
ton of Mars-that is to say, at the time when
Mars was unusually near to the earth-that /
Schiaparelli first saw the canals 1t will be
recollected that in that same year Professor /
Hall discovered the two tiny moons of Mars |
with the great telescope at Washington, an |
instrument in comparison with which Schia- |
parelli's telescope is pigmy, and yet, so far |
as we are aware, the canals were never seen |
with the Washington telescope This fact, |
however, is by no means decisive, for in the |
first place Schiaparelli's telescope, though |
comparatively small, is of acknowledged |
great excellence; secondly, and more impor-
tant, the skies Of Milan are incomparably |
clearer and better slited to delicate telescopic
observation than those of Washington; and
lastly, Schiaparelli, who possesses exception
ally sharp vlsion like the celebrated Dawes,
of England, was engaged in the special study
of the features of Mars surface when he
made the discovery. 1t may be added that
last year three observers-M Perrotin and
NJ. Pollon at Nice, and Mr.. Denning, in Eng
land-succeeded in seeing the canals of Schi-
aparelli, and detecting some of the excep-
tional appearances which he noted. When
Schiaparelli first saw the canals in 1877 they
appeared single lines, but subsequently he
found them double. He even watched the
process of doubling, which was very Gu
| rious phenomenon But we viii let him speak
for himself, as quoted by NJ Flanmarion:
There are upon that planet great dark
| lines, traversing the continents, to which
may be given the name of canals, although
| we do not yet know what they are Various
| astronomers have already detected several of
| them, notably Dawes in 1864 During the
| last three oppositions have made a special
| study of them and have recognized consid-
| cradle number, more than sixty. These lines
| run from one to another of the dark spots
| that We regard as seas and form well de
| fined network over the light or continental
| regions. Their position appears to be inva-
| riable and permanent, at least according to
the judgment l have been able to form by
| four and half years Of observation; never
| theleSs their aspect and their degree of visi-
| bility are not always the same, and depend
| upon circumstances which the present state
| of our knowledge does not yet permit US to
| discuss with certainty In 1879 many were
seen which were not visible in 1887, and in
1882 those that had already been seen were
detected again, accompanied by new ones,
| Several of these canals present themselves
under the form of vague, shadowy lines,
! while Others are clear and sharp, like a mark
made by pen. In general they are recti-
linear, that is to say, drawn upon the sphere
as lines of great circles They cross one an
other obliquely, or at right angles They are
fully two degrees broad or i20 kilometers,
and a number extend over a distance of eighty
degrees or 4,s00 ki1ometers
'Their color is very nearly that of the seas
of Mars, but a trif1e lighter. Every canal
ends at its two extremities in a sea or in
another canal; there is not single example
OF one extremity ending in the middle of the
solid land That is not ALL In certain sea-
sons these canals split up or, rather, become
double
This phenomenon appears to occur at a
fixed time, and is produced simultaneously
over the whole extent of the continents of
the planet. No indication of it was shown
in 1877 during the weeks which preceded and
\ followed the southern solstice of the world
A single isolated case was presented in 1879
|
fore the spring equinox, which occurred on
the 2lst C. January, 1850, remarked the
dividing OF the Nile between the Lake of the
, Moon and the Ceraunique gulf. These two
regular markings, equal and parallel, caused
, me, | admit profound surprise, the greater
because some days before. the 23d and the
24th of December, had observed with care
this same region without perceiving any
thing of the kind. l awaited with curiosity
the return of the planet in 1881 in order tc
| learn if any analogous phenomenon would
: present itself, and | saw the same thing re
appear the 18th of January, 1882, month
after the spring equinox of the planet (which
occurred on the Sth of December, 1851; ttt
division was still more evident at the end oi
\ February. On this same date, the 11th oi
J January, another doubling manifested itself
that of the middle section of the Cyclops ca
nal ON the side of the Elysee.
Greater yet was my astonishment when
v the 10Th of January, l saw the canal of ia
J. muna, which was then in the center of tht
u !. disk, divided very accurately into tive
e straight, parallel lines traversing the spac,
l. which separates the Niliaque lake from th'
Gulf of Aurora. At first thought it to b
i an illusion, caused by fatigue to the eye am
k a sort of strabisrnus of a new kind but on
must needs yield to the evidence. After tn,
= 18th of January | simply passed from on
!, surprise to another in succession the Oron
\ tes, the Euphrates, the Prison, the Gange
and more of the other canals showed them
g selves very clearly and incontestably split il
!. two. There were not less than twenty ex
amples Of doubling.
"In certain cases it has been possible to OF
serve some preeursory symptoms which ar
q not lacking in interest. Thus the 18th O
January light and i'll defined shade extend
:, | ed along the Ganges; the 18th and 10Th onl
a series of white spots was distinguished
there; the Goth the Ganges showed itself i
the form Of two indecisive parallel lines, an
l. the 2lst the doubling was perfectly clear, d
DC | observed it up to the 2Sd of February.
1t These doublings are not an optical effec
depending upon the increase of visual power
d as happens in the observation of double star.
y and neither is it the canal which divides itse
d | in two lengthwise. Notice what it is the
II appears: to the right or left Of pre-existin
:, line, without any change in the course or pt
- sition of that line, one sees another line pre-
duced equal and parallel to the first, at d
tance varying generally from 6 to II degs
| tnab Is TO say, from oJU TO fUu kliOmeUer
: there even seem to he some produced sti
nearer, but the telescope is not powerfl
enough to enable one to distinguish thel
with certainty. Their tint is a rather dar
% reddish brown. These twin canals are rect
q linear or very slightly curved. There
n nothing analogous in terrestrial geograph,
E Everything points to the belief that it is
peculiar periodical phenomenon of the plan
Mars, and Intimately related to the course
the seasons
= Here, then, are observed facts; the i
). crease i'll the distance of the planet and q
prevalence of rains prevented the continu
tion of the observations after the end
: February It is difficult to decide quick
upon the nature of that geography, assu
It edly very different from that of otr world
New York Sun.
A general smile was caused at :. Buffa
railway station the other day by an innoce
~ conntryman who asked for accommodate
''in one of tte:u bed room cars"